Regional Info

2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games will be in Abu Dhabi

Special Olympics is excited to announce the 2019 World Summer Games will be in Abu Dhabi, UAE! #AbuDhabi2019

The Special Olympics International Board of Directors held a meeting in Washington, D.C. where they were pleased to award their flagship
event and world’s largest humanitarian and sporting event of 2019, the Special
Olympics World Games, to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Special
Olympics International Board of Directors unanimously voted to award the World
Games to Abu Dhabi based on a comprehensive bid proposal, a site visit by a
Board Committee, and the country’s vision to create inclusion for people with
intellectual disabilities throughout the UAE, their region and the world. A
press conference detailing the event will follow at a later date in Abu Dhabi.

“Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi is revolutionary for our
movement and for the Middle East region,” shared Timothy Shriver, Special
Olympics Chairman. “There’s no better or more profound location than Abu Dhabi
to invite the world to come together in celebration of sport, in celebration of
people of all kinds, and to demonstrate to the world that the lines of division
can be erased. We are thrilled to be the first fully global multisport Games of
this size to be staged in the Middle East region of the world.”